Mass Effect: The Wolvendon Saga
by EzeikelShepard
Summary: Shepard would have died as a child if it was not for the mysterious duster wearing man. He had taken her to one of his colony which had far more advanced medical technology than the Alliance. As a result she has to hid the fact that she is technically not fully human anymore.
1. The Fall of Wolvendon

**Well this is my first ever fanfic. I hope you the reader enjoys this story.  
**

**This is the part of the story that takes place before the games.**

* * *

**The Fall of Wolvendon**

"Get down!" Right after he finished warning his squad mates, the heavily armored soldier shook from many solid sounding impacts and fell over with a series of wet sounding coughs.

"Sir!" yelled on of the other soldiers.

"Cough-ngh-I'll live…I think…" the heavily armored soldier slowly got up leaving an alarmingly large sized crimson puddle on the broken and battered concrete floor.

"Sir! Reports are coming in from all over the city!" barked the young communications officer.

"Cough…Lay it on me…" quietly said the armored soldier as he looked over the somber view of his precious city burning under the relentless fire from his people's one time allies. The city which once stood proud with some of the most advanced buildings and technology in the world was nothing more than a flaming pile of rubble and ruins. Despite their hyper advanced defense technologies, they were still over- whelmed by the sheer ferocity of the surprise attack.

"All our defenses…and they just smashed them to pieces…" the lightest looking member of the squad obviously the scout spoke up, "…they were our allies! How could they?"

"That's because -cough- Wolvendon stood for what they hate…" the armored soldier coughed up enough crimson to paint his hand fully. "Damn it! We need to get the civilians out of here! I'll cover the evac…-cough- ngh…"

The entire squad looked as if they were about to object when the comms officer spoke up again. "Alright sir, just make it back to base…the people need their leader…"

"Heh…look at you, giving the orders now?"

"Nope…just telling you what the people need."

With a sigh he gestured to the stockpile of weapons they had. "Give me the LMG and five box mags for it…as well as fifteen mags for the 90's as well…"

"Just take all of them then."

"No you will need them to protect the non-combatants…'sides I have a few tricks up my sleeves," as the heavily armored soldier readied himself for what would most likely be the fight of his life, he noticed that there was a hell of a lot more soldiers than he thought. "Well now that might present a slight problem…"

"Sir? You say something?"

"Nope. Now get a move on people!" With that the Soldier jumped over the remains of a car that he had previously been using for cover.

Running to a nearby concrete blockade, he set up his little "checkpoint" as his squad likes to call it when they set up any form of weaponized resistance, and prepared for the onslaught to come. "Well now let's see who they sent after us as the foot soldiers of this ill begotten war…"

Even at the distance he had set up shop it was easy to see the flag patches on the soldiers. The patches were red and white striped with a blue square full of white stars.

"And here I thought they would have sent the Foreign Legion…not the regular marines…" with a heavy sigh the Soldier readied the LMG and waited for the first few men to get within optimal firing range. "Almost there…almost there…gotcha!"

* * *

As the first fire team of his battalion rounded the corner the battalion commander heard a defining roar and then he saw the spray of crimson spewing out across the street.

"What in the Holy Hell was that!"

* * *

With a grim look of satisfaction the Wolvendon soldier picked up shop and relocated so as to not get caught or boxed in by the overwhelming enemy force.

"Damn their commander is smart…he only sent a fire team to run point instead of an entire squad…I've got my work cut out for me…ngh…that is of course if I don't die of blood loss first." The Soldier went and set up this new checkpoint on the wreckage of a bus so that he had a little bit of high ground. "Heh…think I might actually die this time…"

Once he had fully finished setting up he settled for the "long haul" and stared down the sights of his LMG. "Well now. Let's see how much fun we can have before they decide to ruin it…"

* * *

After hours of dodging incoming fire of all sorts the lone Wolvendon soldier had managed to whittle the enemy forces down to just a small hand full of men, but he had also whittled down his ammunition to three and a half mags for his 90's leaving him with fewer than ninety-nine rounds. Even though he put up a valiant fight the Soldier was once again cornered in the heavily damaged remains of the concrete garage structure.

"Of course they just had to steal some of MY DAMN TANKS! And the mass driver ones too…" the Soldier just barely managed to duck underneath the last volley. "Well the good thing in this situation is that they can't shoot worth crap…"

After checking his magazine to see if it was fully loaded, the Soldier popped up out of cover to fire at the few remaining enemy soldiers before running for new cover to avoid the next volley from the tanks. "Shit." Reloading his 90 once more he peaked out of his cover only to duck down once more to avoid another smattering of fire from the enemy.

"Wont they ever quite! Why the hell are they so damn persistent…" as the Soldier dove behind another semi-destroyed pile of cars he saw a Wolvendon Defense Trooper action figure impaled on a piece of twisted metal. "Well that's just inspiring…"

* * *

As the last tank settled into nothing more than a smoldering heap the Soldier shook his smoldering hand to put out the few remaining embers, "Damn that was close…why the hell do they even have that kind of tech…"

Looking out over the 'battlefield', if you could call it that, he looked on as the oldest residential district of Wolvendon that he had worked tirelessly for years to rebuild crumble around him.

With a sigh the Soldier began his long and arduous trek through the destroyed city to the civilian evacuation zone. As he approached the evac point he was met with a challenge in an obscure dialect, "Jahisk eihtor Varzik?"

"What the-Zachariah you completely butchered that! You just asked me if I was a 'roasted wheel hound from Varzik'…" the Soldier practically broke his own nose with how hard he had facepalmed.

"Yep that's him…is it just me or does he just hate me?" the guard on watch, who's name patch read Zaxharaiha, commented into his radio.

"No I do not but obviously your requisitions officer does…" the Soldier pointed to Zachariah's name patch. "Anyways where's your CO?"

"The third building on the left sir."

* * *

"So that's the plan any questions?"

The right hand of everyone present at the briefing other than the Soldier shot up at the same time immediately after he had finished.

"Ok so…any questions on the plan, not on what I'm wearing?" All the hands but two dropped below the table. "So…you what your question?"

The young MP he had pointed to lowered her hand and had a flustered look on her face. "Well sir…my question is not exactly about what you're wearing but more about why it looks so familiar…"

-Smack- The Soldier left an impression of his face in the solid oak table. "…I'll ignore that one so…next."

The other soldier with his hand up lowered it and coughed to clear his throat. "I have to ask…ARE YOU FUCKING SUICIDAL?" The rest of the soldiers flinched at his outburst.

The Soldier ran his hand through his hair while he contemplated his answer. "Well…no…I'm not…"

"Well you could have fooled me…this plan of yours has you walking into the enemy's main camp…"

"Well yeah I need to cause enough of a distraction for everyone to escape…I need to keep all eyes on me not the sky."

* * *

"What the HELL!" yelled the base commander. As he was ushered out of the command tent he saw one of the row of parked tanks explode from the inside. "Get the men out there to find the asshole that just blew up my tanks!"

As the dust settled a figure could be seen siting on an overturned military truck with a coat of some sort fluttering in the heat waves radiating off of the flames.

* * *

As the last trail of smoke started to expand and dissipate the Soldier heaved a heavy sigh.

"Freeze!" The base's defense soldiers surrounded the Soldier on all sides. "Lay down your arms or we will shoot!"

"Hahahaha! Tell your commanding officer that Wolvendon has been defeated… And that the last surviving member of The Silver Katana Peace Keeping Mercenary Organization surrenders but does not surrender his weapons."

"Lay down your arms or we will shoot you!" the highest ranking base soldier ordered.

"Are you deaf boy!? I told you what to do so go do it!" The Soldier barked out the order. "You know what…tell him that General Ezeikel Van Garrote has requested an audience with the war council to discuss your unconditional surrender." With that the Soldier and the base soldiers marched off to the nearest bunker.


	2. Choosing a New Specter

**Well I's sorry for the time delay between chapters**

**I hope this one is better...its been a long time since I've written any thing more than a page...**

**Well here's to hoping right?**_  
_

**~EzeikelShepard**

* * *

**Choosing a Specter  
**

_The conference room had a sterile look about it with the military style clean and shiny metal walls as well as the stench of mechanically scrubbed air. The room had one set of old fashion metal double doors and a large floor to ceiling window that looked out over the purple tinged nebula and the fleet of warships that guard it. Around the long rectangular conference table sat five men shuffling through papers and data pads. Three of the men were dressed in some blue and black military dress uniforms complete with gold trim. The fourth was dressed in a white and red fancy business suit and had the air of a politician. The fifth man had a heavy old western style duster that completely concealed his body, which had a matching hood that covered all of his face except for his mouth and chin so that you can see any quirks of his mouth._

"_So who's next on the list?" asked the political looking man._

"_There's this Major Jones…he has won the Star of Terra for excellence under fire." Offers up an admiral with a faded Russian accent._

"_All he did was sit in the back barking orders at the fleet after his ships CO was killed. Does that really make him eligible for this duty?" asked the grizzled old soldier in a gravelly voice._

"_What are you implying? That he isn't capable of inspiring the masses?" asked the Russian accented admiral._

_The man in the duster started to shake uncontrollably as the room was filled with a thick, rich laughter. "Well…now Mikhailovich, it appears that you already know his shortcomings."_

_The politician and Mikhailovich both glared at the man in the duster as the gravelly voiced solder started chuckling at the exchange. "I believe that it's unanimous when I say that his candidacy has been denied."_

"_Well that just eliminated the last candidate…" grumbled the politician as he double checked the list._

"_Actually," the third and youngest of the three military men spoke up with a British accent. "There are at least two more candidates."_

"_That's true captain but I should leave if you are going to discuss their candidacy…" the duster wearing man sighed out as he got up from the table._

"_What could possibly be the reason for you having to take leave of this deliberation?" questioned the now fully irritated politician._

"_Well…as young Captain Anderson will no doubt inform you I raised the last two as my children and as such my opinion will be classified as biased…anyways I bid thee fair well." As he passed by each of the military men he nodded a fair well. "Captain Anderson, Admiral Hackett, Admiral Mikhailovich."_

"_I'm going on record saying that since they are not on the list I compiled that they should not be considered in any way." The politician intoned after the man had left the room._

"_You haven't even read their dossiers! So what makes you think that you know who's best for the specter candidacy?" the captain asked in a strained voice._

"_And this is a military decision not a political one," intoned an irate Captain Anderson._

"_It is as political as it is military…" the politician paused long enough to review the dossiers. "Hm…this one…this one is almost too young to hold the rank and prestige she does…how did this happen?"_

"_She was serving under that man in the defense force of the Wolvendon systems before she was transferred to the Alliance as a liaison between the two factions," came the gravelly voiced reply. _

"_And why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?"_

"_That was because it was top secret…but since you now know it'll influence your decision," grumbled Mikhailovich._

"_Damn right it will! But…she will satisfy both the political and military needs for this position," contemplated the politician aloud._

"_How so?" asked Admiral Hackett._

"_If she is picked she then comes to represent all of humanity and our ongoing efforts to correct the wrong doings of our past." With a smug look he pushed her dossier to the center of the table. "She has my vote."_

"_I hate to say it but for once I agree with Ambassador Udina…she has my vote." Captain Anderson tapped a few keys on the tablet he was holding to cast his vote._

_Without uttering a word Admiral Hackett cast his vote making the total three in favor and one undecided._

"_Alright already she gets my vote," grumbled Mikhailovich as he cast his vote._

"_So it's been decided…by the way what is her name? I can't seem to find it anywhere…in her dossier or on the duty roster of her assigned base…" asked a thoroughly perplexed Udina._

"_You won't find her name on any list…all I've found is her serial number __5923-AC-2826__…"_

"_That's not entirely true Amiral…" Admiral Hackett gave Anderson a quizzical look. "Look up "The White Haired Demon of the Skyllian Blitz" and you'll find her name in the second paragraph."_

"_Why is that the only record that you know of?" _

"_Well, Udina, that's where I first learned her name after serving with her for 2 years. She still refuses to be acknowledge by her family name…so everyone just calls her Crimson Lyall…"_

"_Wait you mean THAT Crimson Lyall?" asked a thoroughly outraged Udina._

"_Well now that it's been decided we will leave it to you Udina to tell her," chuckled Admiral Hackett._

"_I am going to die!"_

* * *

The sound of bullets impacting the low wall next to Mai greeted her as she clawed her way back to full consciousness. "-Ake u- -ake up! Wake up damn it! Marine wake up now! Marine wake up this instant that's an order! Damn it Mai wake u-gack-"

"Never use my name! Besides you try to stay awake after being nailed point blank by a reave and remain conscious…" Mai had the marine captain by the throat and was lifting him off his feet with one hand. With a sigh she dropped the soldier, "I'll finish this in five seconds flat…"

"Um…did she just-" as the soldier peaked over his cover what he saw cut his comment short.

* * *

There was a constant red mist over the battlefield as Mai punched and shot everyone in her way. Her once white hair now shone crimson as the blood flowed off of her helmet into it.

"You SOB's will all pay for my damn headache!"

Mai ran through the debris field left over from the initial attack of the pirates spinning gracefully around a grenade explosion to squeeze off three shots into the owner of said grenade. Diving for cover to avoid a sustained burst of machine gun fire she managed to lift the gunner into the air with a Lift, leaving him completely defenseless. Which she took advantage of by unloading into his chest spraying his innards in his comrade's face causing them to stager blinded for a second. And that second was all she needed, she took the chance to charge forward and slam her fist through the pirate's chest plate and out the back plate. Her momentum alone carried her and the pirate, she had just skewered on her arm, into the pirate's comrade's faceplate denting it severely and disabling all of its internal electronics. Just as Mai was going to strike another pirate her head exploded with enough force that it knocked Mai over.

"Really!? You could have warned me that you were going to shoot Jinx!" fumed Mai as she got to her feet brushing bits of bone and brain matter off of her armor.

"Hahaha just doing my job don't want daddy's little girl to get hurt now do we?" chuckled Jinx through the radio. Right after he finished laughing a rock smashed through his scope.

"Don't you ever say that again!" Mai yelled at the top of her lungs so he could hear her without his helmet radio.

She then grabbed one of the pirates by the shoulder and shoved her pistol into the juncture of the chin and the neck squeezing the trigger multiple times spraying the pirate's brains over the entire side of the shuttle they had crashed in an attempt to take out the control tower of the Alliance base stationed on Talvor Scara. After she finished with the last of the pirates in the immediate area she walked over to the nearest barracks and marched strait into the showers.

* * *

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Crimson Lyall you are now pulled from all active duties and you are to report to the Citadel for your new assignment." The hologram of Ambassador Udina visibly flinched from her outburst.

"If you have forgotten I'll remind you," Mai visibly shook from her efforts to not yell at Udina again. "You cannot order me around because A. you are not military so you have no say in what I can or cannot do, B. I do not serve the Alliance and its needs I serve my own and am here only because of papa, and C. because I fucking hate politicians with every fiber of my being!"

"Good to know you still hold onto your ideals little one," the owner of the voice stepped onto the holo-terminal, he was dressed in silver armor with a black leather old western duster over it and a matching black leather hood that covered all of his face in shadows save the lower half of his face. "But what he says is true… this comes from the top little Vigdís…"

Mai stares at the holograms as if she was dreaming, "You can't be serious!"

"Sadly I am…the Jordargi have decreed to let this pass… Get to the Citadel a.s.a.p. and the rest will be explained." The duster wearing soldier turned to leave. "Oh and you father would like to have a word with you when you get there."

* * *

The shuttle to the Citadel was filled with an aura of utter distain causing the half of the shuttle that Mai sat on to be completely devoid any other passengers. Taping her booted foot loud enough to drown out the hushed chatter that had sprung up when she had removed her helmet, she muttered to herself, "What could papa be thinking letting those assholes from the Alliance have their way…" Turning her head towards the window she sighed as she began to study her reflection for the seventeenth time that trip. Her white hair framed her face in just such a way that her ears were completely hidden no matter how she moved. Her eyes were a few shades lighter than gunmetal gray, but not by much, giving her a natural cold and calculating look. Mai's face also had a white leather guard that wrapped around her neck framing her face and hugs her chin. With a sigh she gently prodded the bruise forming on her cheek from when she fell down after getting nailed by a reave.


	3. Answering The Call

**Well then... spent two weeks with a migraine from writers block...**

**then i had the bright idea to listen to music...which resulted in this chapter**

**Now i know i'm a new writer and all but i hope my loyal fans weren't too angry with me...**

**anyways here is the next chapter still original work territory though...hope you enjoy it...i did well writing it at least **

* * *

**Answering the Call**

**by: well me XD (EzeikelShepard)**

"Miss? Miss wake up. Your helmet has been broadcasting military alerts for the last few minutes." The shuttle attendant had placed Mai's helmet on the seat next to her so she could gently wake her from her peaceful slumber.

"What?" Came the soft and gentle reply.

"Could you put your helmet back on so you don't disturb the other passengers please?" the attendant looked as if she was expecting a harsh reply.

"Oh…alright I'll do that." Mai fasten her helmet to the seal on her armor around her neck to create a sealed environment. She them pulled her long hair through the gel like layer in the back that created a seal preventing her personal atmosphere from venting. After checking all the seals and the helmets systems she turned off the external speakers she started to listen to the alert.

"_All Wolvendon military personnel are here by ordered to cease all current operations and report to your respective bases if any personnel cannot make it back to their base they are to report to the nearest one. Emergency Ordinance Omega Zulu 3 is now in effect. I repeat emergency action! All Wolvendon mil-" _with a sigh Mai turned her radio off as she watched the shuttle start its final approach to the Citadel. What she saw made her stand up and run to the cockpit of the shuttle to get a better view.

"Um…miss you need to get back to your seat. We are starting our final approach." As he got up from his seat the co-pilot saw the insignia on her breastplate. "Ah miss you wouldn't happen to be a Wolvendon soldier would you?"

Mai's only response was a slight nod as she watched the ship that had caught her eye back in the passenger section. The ship had the crest of a wolf howling at a star with a shield at his feet. "What's the _Liulfr_ doing here?"

"Wait THE _Liulfr_!? The flagship of the Independent State of Wolvendon's Defense Force?"

Mai's response came in the form of a nod. She was about to return to her seat when she caught a glimpse of the rest of the fleet following the _Liulfr_ through the purplish nebula. Even though the _Liulfr_ was the flagship but it was almost smallest ship in the fleet. Its sister ship, the _Normandy_, was almost one and a half times its size and bore the marks of the Human Systems Alliance. While the _Normandy_ is called the sister ship to the _Liulfr _its design varies in many areas such as the bridge. In the case of the _Liulfr_ the bridge is situated near the middle on its dorsal side. Whereas the prow of the _Normandy_ is a downward curved bridge for a five man bridge crew also the _Liulfr_ has four times the armor in the front. Both of them are designed for constant atmospheric reentry. The rest of the fleet ranged from one man crafts to supper carriers all of varying designs.

"Does the airlock have a secondary seal?" Mai asked the awestruck co-pilot.

"What? Yes of course but why do you need to know?"

Before he could even peace together her plan Mai ran over to the airlock, after sealing the secondary seal, and kicked out the outer airlock doors blowing herself out into the vacuum of space. Using the momentum from the depressurization of the airlock to propel her towards the Wolvendon fleet Mai aimed herself at the third largest ship in the fleet.

A gruff voice came over Mai's radio proclaiming, "Unidentified armed soldier identify yourself or accept the consequences!"

Mai's response came in the form of an up turned fist with her middle finger sticking up in the general direction of the bridge of the ship she was careening towards.

"There is only one person in the galaxy I know that is dumb enough to do such a thing…" the reply was muffled in just such a way that it was obvious that operator was new and had no idea how to turn off the mike.

"Skreyja griss," muttered Mai into her mike.

"Now now, how many times have I told you not to use that kind of language?" came the mirth filled voice reply of the captain.

"What? All I did was call him an incompetent piglet…"

"Precisely! So what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Nothing I just needed a place to land…so that I can get to the Citadel faster." Mai informed as she flipped around so that her feet were presented to the ship instead of her head. "Just so you know I'm going to land on the sixth deck hanger bay."

"Wait what?! There is less than three meters of clearance! On top of that you are coming in too hot! You'll just make a bloody mess that my engineers will have to clean up!"

"That's part of the challenge plus the Phoenix Troopers make that kind of drop every day." Mai said as she passed through the atmospheric shielding on the hanger bay. She felt the familiar tug of gravity taking only a split second to notice that it was set to the same gravity level as her home world before she had to focus on the landing. Bringing one foot up and out she landed on the other foot using the foot she had just brought up to shift her center of gravity so that she can now bring the momentum she had built up to a steadily decreasing amount as she ran it off through the hanger bay. She had built up far more momentum than she had thought causing her to run up the far end wall and partially back across the ceiling till she fell off from lack of momentum. Mai managed to shift midair so that she would land on her feet but she realized that if she didn't bleed off some more of her momentum she would break her legs even with her reinforced armor. So Mai did the next logical thing in her mind, she started to spin with one foot held out at her waist level to create a counter balance and to create some pull to the spin so that the rest of her momentum would die down. With a grunt she landed still spinning but managed to not break her leg in the process. Slowly she stopped spinning with a slightly embarrassed look on her face, not that anyone in the hanger could see it through the polarized faceplate of her helmet.

Through the deafening quiet in the hanger bay there came the sound of sarcastic clapping coupled with the obvious sound of mockingly barley suppressed laughter. "Who knew that the greatly feared Crimson Lyall would be such a pretty ballerina! Man wait till I post the recording on the extra-net! I'll make a killing!"

Mai was just about to use her biotics to charge him when a black clad figure walked up behind him and made a few quick gestures with his hand over his wrist mounted computer, then he spoke with unrepressed mirth "Would be hard to make that killing without the video now wouldn't it?" The jokester looked back to the screen of his computer in horror as it informed him that the file was indeed deleted. "Now I recommend that you go back to your work. Come Lyall you are needed on the Citadel."

"Who are you and why are you here?" Mai asked with an air of distrust about her.

"Who I am in unimportant as to why I'm here…your father sent me to pick you up and take you to the Citadel." His most of his face could not be see through the shadows that covered it down to the tip of his nose from the armored hood that man wore leaving his mouth visible.

"Fine if you're going to be that way I'll race you to the Citadel the old school way." With that Mai ran over to the equipment racks near the back of the hanger bay and grabbed a set of flight stabilizer attachments for ship less space flight. After making sure they were attached properly she ran and jumped out of the hanger bay via the atmospheric shield and initiated the stabilizer gear and started her decent towards the Citadel at speeds that would kill her if she so much as nicked a piece of space debris.

"Why am I not surprised…" with a sigh the black clad man jumped out the same shield but instead of floating away he activated the D.R.O.P. gear attached to his armor propelling him towards the Citadel at speeds that would cause him to pulverize anything in his path regardless of size, mass or density. "We need to find a better acronym for this gear Downward Ratio Orbital Propulsion is just stupid…"

As Mai was scanning the area ahead and to the left for any potential hazards that might get in her way she say something black streak past her towards the Citadel. "Hey! Watch where you're flying!"

It took her a few seconds to realize what the black thing was after she figured it out she cursed under her breath as she increased her speed far beyond the limits of the stabilizer gear causing it to fry its internal circuits lighting up her HUD with warnings "Shit!"

Just as she was about to hit the outer hull of the Citadel she felt a field envelope her halting her forward momentum. Just as suddenly the field dissipated causing her to face plant on the hull. "Now now Lyall you should know better than to burn out your gear."

Soon after the radio channel was fill with profanities from many different dialects that the translator refused to translate. With chuckle the black clad man lifted Mai by her combat belt and carried her to the nearest airlock. "Now let's go find out what your father wanted from you shall we?"

* * *

The human embassy had a rather sterile look and air about it not for a lack of trying. There were a few plants from Earth brought in so that the human occupying the office would feel more at ease. The human occupying the office of course couldn't even tell you what the phrase "at ease" meant or felt like. For once the office held more than one human, there are three to be precise plus two non-humans.

"So that's the gist of it from here on out you two will serve under Crimson Lyall. And as for you," Ambassador Udina turned to the stone faced Mai. "You shall be assigned to the _Normandy_ which has been signed over to the Systems Alliance and now has a human only crew-"

"That was not the deal _Ambassador _Udina!" The black clad man strode forth as he uttered Udina's title in utter disgust. Grabbing the man's suit front he lifted him out of his chair so he could look him straight in the eyes, coincidentally lifting him clean off his feet. "The deal was that the crew would be mostly Wolvendon servicemen with Alliance officers! If you attempt to go back on your word you could just forget about this and the other agreement we came to."

At this point Udina was visibly shaken by this sudden violent outburst from the always calm man who acted like nothing more than a shadow in the room. "Now the ship will be manned by a Wolvendon servicemen crew with an Alliance officer staff. Oh and also the captain is non-negotiable if you try to have someone else captain the ship the deal is not only off but all Wolvendon support of the Alliance will be pulled. Now might I also add that the contingent of Phoenix Troopers is also non-negotiable? Do you understand?" Udina nods while having the look of a deer in the headlights. "Good so I won't have to get the Folkvarðr involved."

Dropping the now thoroughly defeated politician the man turned and left the office on his way to return to his ship. The politician got up and readjusted his suit and hair, "Now as to the chain of command Miss Lyall here is not official a member of the Alliance military but you two are going to have to treat her as if she was."

Suddenly Mai's face drained of all its color as the faint sounds of a military alert could be heard coming from the opened faceplate of her helmet.

"Miss Lyall you know the Alliance's policies about open radio channels during breifings…Miss Lyall I'm talking to you…Damn it woman!" Udina activated his holographic computer interface that popped up around his left arm called an omni-tool and proceeded to hack into her open radio frequency.

"_Emergency Broadcast Ordinance Omega Omega Omega! It has been confirmed that the Wolvendon early warning outpost in the __Exodus Cluster__ on the edge of the Utopia System has been confirmed destroyed with all hands lost! The Wolvendon threat level has been raised to threat level Omega! I repeat the Wolvendon threat Level has been raise to threat level Omega! All Hear This! All Hear This! Wolvendon is officially at war! All Citizens of Wolvendon are hereby ordered to report to the nearest extra-net terminal to download the wartime necessities packet. Emergency Broadcast Ordinance Omega Omega Omega! It has been confirmed that the Wolve-"_

Udina quietly shut off his omni-tool as he took a seat at his desk in front of the computer terminal to type a few things before turning to the two Alliance marines he had assigned to Mai. "You take Miss Lyall to the _Normandy_ and get the ship flying to the colony of Eden Prime and do it fast!"

With a salute and a quick 'yes sir' the two marines managed to get Mai to the _Normandy_ and instructed the captain to head toward the colony.


	4. Boots on the Ground

**Well its me again I managed to crank out two chapters in two days listening to the band Týr so that's a good thing i think...**

**Anyways this is the chapter where Mai learns her fate... we shall se what happens**

**Hope you enjoy the story**

* * *

**Boots on the Ground**

**By: me of course (EzeikelShepard)**

The bridge of the _Normandy_ had the air of misery as the pilot tried to navigate through the pre-DRIVE checklist. "So you hear about the one with a Krogan, a Salarian and a Human entering the Carvenous system?" asked the pilot.

"No what's the punch line?" asked his co-pilot who was one of the marines that had been assigned to Mai's command.

"That's the thing only the Salarian and Human make it out and they can't even speak afterwards…"

"That wasn't even remotely funny." The marine shook his head as he laughed at the pilot's expense.

"Pfft Hahaha that's because you don't know the context that goes with it…" Mai rolled over in her seat on the bridge as she clutched her gut.

"Oh and what context am I missing?" asked the marine in exasperation. He was getting fed up with these Wolvendon types.

"The Carvenous System is the primary Wolvendon space combat training fields as well as the only place you can square off against the Phoenix Troopers and live. Also those that return like the Salarian and the Human are the washouts." Mai tried to keep a straight face the entire time but failed with a loud guffaw.

"So basically you just called your own race washouts?" the marine pointedly glared at the pilot.

"No he just said that most Humans can't become part of the mythical Phoenix Troopers of Wolvendon."

"Shit! Nihlus don't sneak up on people! So any particular reason you are here?" asked the pilot.

"Just checking to see if you were ready to make the final jump to the Utopia system, Flight Lieutenant Moreau." The Turian specter just chuckled at the lieutenant's remark.

"Just about to make the jump. And its Joker not Flight Lieutenant Moreau."

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference. Now where is Lyall?" Nihlus looked around the bridge as he said this.

"She isn't here but I'll tell her the next time I see her that you were looking for her," came the pilots reply.

"Alright. I've always been interested in what this…DRIVE as you call it…is like." Nihlus mused as he watched the instrument board which had several windows opened signifying the various conditions in and around the ship. Pointing to a window that was off to the side and reduced in size. "What's this window represent?

"That's the lateral drift calculator."

"Hm…so is that accurate?" Nihlus was a little skeptical of the numbers that he was seeing.

"Yep drift is just under one fifty." The pilot said with a triumphant twang to his voice.

"So let me get this straight you not only have a completely unique engine design but it's far more manageable than that of a mass effect engine?" Nihlus questioned as he looked over the schematics on a nearby console.

"Yep. Jump in five… four… three… two… hang on to your seats people! DRIVE core initiated!" Joker barked into the intercom as he launched the ship towards the Utopia system at maximum faster than light speeds. Just as soon as it started the DRIVE jump ended. "Alright all sections sound off!"

The intercom chimed with a litany of voices chiming that everything is ship shape around the ship. "Is it just me or did the vehicle bay not check in?"

"Nope they defiantly didn't check in…" came Joker's strained reply as he ran through the ship's diagnostic programs to figure out what happened during the jump.

"Vehicle Bay here…sorry the Beast rolled during the jump…we got it back into position but the coms took a hit…sorry about the delay on the check in."

"What happened to Requisitions Officer Samuel?" Joker asked with a worried tone.

"Here just need to get to the medbay…the Beast ran over my foot when it rolled…" Samuel grunted into the intercom.

"Alright get to the medbay." Joker ordered as he checked the sensor sweeps of the surrounding system.

"Joker," came the crisp voice of Captain Anderson.

"Yes captain?"

"Tell Nihlus and Lyall to meet me in the briefing room a.s.a.p. got that? Anderson out."

"Got that. Nihlus go on ahead I'll find Lyall and send her your way…" as Joker gave Nihlus the rundown on his plane he turned the pilots seat all the way around to face him.

"Fine but tell her we are still going to have the talk she has been avoiding…" with that Nihlus exited the bridge on his way to the briefing room.

"So…anyone going to fill me in as to why we just lied to two superior officers?" asked the marine sitting co-pilot.

"Because Kaidan…she needs to have a few minutes to unwind and prepare after the last Wolvendon military alert. Also 'cause she could easily kill us both if we tried to turn her in." Joker informed as he returned to his original position.

"Also because she has been flying as the navigator this entire flight…" Mai got up from her seat to flash both of them a thankful smile. "Now I must go to war once again…I just hope that this time everyone makes it out alive this time…"

With that Mai fastened the plates of her armor on as she walked through the CIC on her way to the briefing room as she passed the other marine that Udina assigned to her she overheard his conversation with the head medical officer. "I grew up on Eden Prime Doc. It's not a place that a Specter would visit."

"What do you mean? This is a Wolvendon scouting mission not a Council sightseeing adventure…" Mai said in disgust.

"Sorry I was trying to say that Eden Prime is too far out of the way for such an important person to be here…" The marine had the decency to look ashamed.

Mai's hard expression softened at the marines genuine feelings of shame. "It's your first time being in active service out of boot camp?"

"Yes Ma'am…" The marine hesitated when he answered.

"You're older than me kid…by the way in the rush to get out here I never got your name…" Mai cocked her head slightly to the side to signify her genuine interest.

"It's Richard L. Jenkins, Corporal Richard L. Jenkins Alliance marine…so do you know when the real action will start? I'm itching to prove myself…" Jenkins looked like he was itching for a fight.

"I sincerely hope your joking…your real action usually lands you in my medbay with me to patch you up…" muttered the medical officer.

"Oh right… Samuel got hurt during the jump and is on his way to the medbay…" Mai turned to the medical officer as she informed her of the situation.

"Why wasn't I informed?"

"…yeah had a call from Captain Anderson…sorry…" Mai scratched the back of her head in embarrassment. The medical officer left in a hurry leaving Mai alone with the corporal. "So…I'll be going seeing as the captain is waiting for me…"

"Alright see you later then…" With that the corporal left to find another crew member to hypothesize about the reasons why a Specter was onboard the ship. Mai readjusted the fastenings on her armor as she left the CIC and entered the briefing room.

"Ah. I was hoping you would be the first to arrive…" came the reverberating voice of Nihlus from deeper in the briefing room.

"So now Specters are taking interest in me…" Mai heaved a heavy sigh as she fixed him with an unblinking stare. "What is the Council pissed about now? I only dispatched that pirate gang that attacked the base with such ferocity because they injured and killed some of the soldiers I was serving with…"

"No that's not why I'm here but now that you have brought that up I would like you're after action report on that battle." Nihlus intoned as he turned around to face the now fully armored Mai. "Must you wear that blasted helmet every time you are around others?"

"No but I wear it when I'm around the dogs of the Council…" Mai growled through the mike in her helmet.

"Well soon you will have to wear it every day-"

"Nihlus! The deal was that I would be the one to tell her!" the commanding voice of Captain Anderson rang out throughout the briefing room.

"Tell me what, sir?" Mai's voice was filled with irritation.

"There is more to this mission than you were briefed on…and before you get pissed at me for this just know I didn't get all of the mission brief till just a few minutes ago…so first of all the mission parameters have changed. It is no longer a scouting mission it's now a covert pick up of two artifacts unearthed on Eden Prime. The first is a Prothean Beacon. You know who the Prothean's are correct Lyall?" Anderson turned to Mai as he started to give her the new mission brief.

"They are the race that supposedly created the Mass Relay network and the Citadel…as well as invented the Mass Effect technology the rest of the galaxy blindly uses…" Mai could barely keep the distain out of her voice.

"Yes that is correct but I do not see why the people refuse to use the gifts the Protheans left us." Nihlus muttered quietly as he studied the various instruments arranged around the room.

"Moving on," Anderson commanded with a glare at the Turian. "The second artifact is a little odd seeing as it appears that the Protheans where studying it."

"Do we know what race built it?" Mai asked now that her interest was thoroughly peaked.

"Yes it appears to be technology similar to that used by Wolvendon-"

"ARE YOU SURE?" Mai asked in disbelief.

"Yes…and it appears to be not only intact but operational…but the facilities on Eden Prime aren't equipped to deal with it that's why we are here."

"And secondly?"

"Yes secondly there is a reason Nihlus is here."

"That reason being?" Mai asked while pointedly ignoring said Turian.

"I'm here to assess your skills to see if you have what it takes…"

"Nihlus! I told you to let me tell her…" Anderson glared at the Turian.

"Ok if somebody doesn't tell me what is going on here I might just blow a hole in the ship for fun…" Mai's anger was starting to get the better of her.

"The Council think that Humanity is ready for a greater hand in galactic politics…" Anderson began.

"And so they are allowing a Human candidate for the Specters to be put forth. That candidate is you Lyall." Nihlus finished. "This mission is to test your skills as well as many more to come."

"Tell the Council tha-"

"Captain you need to see this!" Jokers voice sounded strained as he yelled into the intercom. A second later and the view screen in room Mai and the rest occupied lit up with an emergency message form the colony.

"…Rewind and hold at 35.2 Joker." Anderson ordered. The pilot complied and the message froze on the image of something that looked like a giant clawed hand with many little claw like objects flying around it as it descended to the surface of the planet. There were also some insect like ships flying with it. Seeing those ships caused Mai to go pale behind her faceplate.

"Joker we need to get there yesterday mister!" Barked Mai as she ran towards the vehicle bay of the ship.

* * *

"Sir the _Normandy _is heading towards the planet what are your orders?" the pilot of the _Liulfr _asked as he turned to his black clad leader.

"Heh…Send in all forces we are going to save the colony even if it kills us all got that?" The black clad leader smiled as he adjusted his armor as he got up. The black leather duster he always wore was draped over the back of his command chair and the hood was pulled down for all to see his face. He had medium length light brown hair that shifted to silver near the tips which he kept in a 'warriors wolf tail' as he called it. He had sky blue eyes that looked like they had silver lightning bolts radiating from his irises. His face as a whole was young looking, he had an odd tattoo that started above the corner of his right eye and wrapped around it to come to rest about halfway down his cheek not that you would notice it normally with the color it is comprise of. All in all he had the air about him of a man that has lived so long that he has started to act like a young man once again but looking at him you would say that he looked like he was no older than twenty-seven.

"Sir? We are sending in our soldiers blind with no intel?" The pilots face was a mask of confusion.

"Look at your console again ensign…" The ensign looked back to his screen to see the same message that the _Normandy _had received.

"Oh…I see what you mean." The ensign had the decency to look abashed at his earlier remark.

"Good now tell the rest of the fleet to deploy all Phoenix Troopers and also tell the _Normandy _that Wolvendon is sending aid to fend off this attack." With that the leader donned his duster and left the bridge to go join the ground troops in preparing of the fight to come.

* * *

The sounds of battle could be heard as the _Normandy's _ground team touched boots to the surface of Eden Prime. Off in the distance Mai could see the colonists retreating into the super structures of the city to try and fend off the hordes of enemies that were attacking the colony.

"Let's get moving!" Mai barked as she settled into her battle mindset.

"What the hell is that!?" Kaidan yelled as a yellowish white bulbous creature floated by.

"Oh they are harmless…we call them gasbags." Jenkins laughed as they passed by the gasbags.

"So…Crimson Lyall is too awkward to yell out in battle…" Kaidan awkwardly began.

"If you must call me anything…call me Varðr…" Mai said as she swept the area with her gaze to see if it was clear.

"Varðr? What the hell does that mean?" Kaidan refused to even try to hide his annoyance at the complicated phonetics.

With a grin Mai marched on ahead as she checked her scanner just in case she missed something with her visual scan. "It's the closest thing to a rank that I have…"

"What about your Alliance rank? Commander right?" Kaidan jumped back when the barrel of a pistol appeared in front of his face.

"I do not serve in the Alliance so I do not abide by their ranks…" Cocking her head to the side she strained to hear something over the sounds of chaos. It almost sounded like- "GET DOWN!" she then shoved both Kaidan and Jenkins into cover as she dove to the other side of the pass they were passing through to hide behind a large rock formation. "Jenkins scout out the area ahead and keep your head down!"

Jenkins acknowledgment of the order came in the form of a nod as he quickly rolled out of cover to scan the area ahead of them. After doing a quick scan and seeing nothing out of the ordinary he turned around to give the all clear when he heard the unmistakable sound of mass effect assisted miniature turbine engines a series of clicking sounds. He whipped around to see what was causing the sound only to catch a glimpse of gunfire dropping to the ground with a grunt he managed to remain conscious long enough to hear Mai yell his name then everything went black.


	5. Suffering on the Battlefront

**Ok I'm back and I have a few things I need to put out there before y customary greeting...**

**So to start for all you Kaidan fans i'm sorry about how he acts in this story...I personally do not hate Kaidan but in my story he is the eldest of all the characters and doesn't take too kindly to being ordered around by a younger officer and a younger woman at that...mind you Mai has a reputation for being a terrible Alliance officer.**

**Also yes I am changing up parts of the story in a hope that the story is new enough to hold the interest of both non-Mass Effect fans and Mass Effect fans.**

**So here's to hopping and enjoy this story.**

* * *

**Suffering on the Battlefront**

**By: Me of course XD (EzeikelShepard)**

"Jenkins!" Mai's pain filled voice could easily be heard over the chaotic din of battle. Forgetting about personal safety Mai vaulted over her cover to slam her fist through one of the flying drones that had shot the corporal. "Get over here!" Using her biotics she yanked the other drone out of the sky and smashed it into the ground five times to make sure that it died.

"Varðr! What are you doing!? Do you have a death wish!" Kaidan ran out of his cover to attempt to give her some covering fire only to find that both the drones were not only destroyed but reduced to piles of scrap.

"Jenkins come on don't die! Kid don't you dare die on me!" Mai ran up and plugged her computer into Jenkins armor systems so that she could assess his injuries and attempt to stabilize him.

"Lyall! He is dead there is nothing more you can do!"

"This is Varðr Crimson Lyall I need an emergency medevac at the silver flare!" She reached for her belt and grabbed the third cylinder from the left of her belt buckle. After twisting off the cap she aimed it towards the sky and sent an electrical current through it causing a silver orb to shoot up into the sky and eventually into orbit around the planet.

As soon as the flare was out of sight five fire balls came down from orbit impacting the ground in a circle around Mai and her squad.

"Varðr…let us take him and continue your mission we will patch him up so rest assured. Now go!" The Healer grabbed Mai by the shoulder and shoved her farther down the pass. "Get to it!"

With a barely suppressed series of sniffles as she calmed down a little, after seeing the healers secure Jenkins and march off to the medevac transport that had just landed back behind the rise, Mai shook herself to steady her emotions. "Alright Lieutenant let's get moving we need to secure the artifacts then help the colonists."

"Varðr our mission is only the securing of the artifacts. Nothing more-Gah!" His statement was cut short by Mai's armored hand slamming into his faceplate as she dragged him down into cover via said faceplate. He tried to get back up but she forced him down with a gesture signaling that he needed to remain quiet.

Mai peaked over the rock formation she was using for cover to see a female marine, in white armor with pink edgings, come charging around the bend and run in their direction. The marine's face was filled with panic and her armor was spattered with blood and the blueish white substance that the drones had sprayed out when Mai destroyed them. Mai quickly ordered Kaidan to stay put and stood up from her cover and signaled the marine to get to where she was standing. The marine saw Mai and made a dash for her but tripped causing her to fall over and lose her assault rifle and the grenade strapped to her belt.

"Shit!" Mai vaulted over the rock formation and dove onto the grenade in case it was primed. After a few seconds her armors scanners told her the grenade was inert so she jumped to her feet and pocketed it. After checking her surroundings Mai ran to the marine and started to check her over as her scanners started to data mine the marine's armor computer systems. "Are you alright Gunny?"

"Yes but…who- how- why are you here?"

"Breath Gunny, just take a deep breath and tell me you name, rank and deployment…" Mai helped the Gunnery Chief up to her feet and picked up her rifle to examine it.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 2nd Frontier Division of the 212 stationed on Eden Prime. Ma'am…" informed the marine as she stood at attention.

"Three battlefield promotions in one day…that doesn't bode well for the battle." Mai muttered as her armor informed her of the data it had recovered from Ashley's armor.

"How do you know that!?" Ashley's voice was filled with shock and distrust.

"Sorry all Wolvendon armor is equipped with supercomputers designed for data gathering…and well I was looking for internal bio-monitoring readouts…and that information came with it…" Mai had the decency to look abashed at her intrusive actions.

"Enough of that we need to complete our mission!" Came Kaidan's annoyance filled voice.

"Kaidan you need to fall in line! And Gunny…it appears that your rifle broke…" Mai held up the rifle as it started to fall apart. "So…here…"

"What manner of gun is this?" Asked the Gunnery Chief as she accepted the pistol from Mai.

"It's a Wolvendon DRIVE-pistol…carful it has a bigger kick than the mass effect weapons you are used to." As Mai turned around to face the direction that Ashley had come from. "You two hide there and there! And do it now!"

Ashley complied quietly while Kaidan took additional prompting until he could hear the sound of many footfalls. With a string of unintelligible string of curses he dove behind a low rock formation.

Mai initiated a sub-system in her armor that when started a thin layer on the outer shell of her armor starts up and refracts light around her causing her to disappear from the visible spectrum. Even though all her diagnostic systems say that the sub-system was initiated properly and running just fine she was clearly still visible. "F my life…"

As the top of the shadows of the enemies approaching from around the bend started to become visible Mai reached to the small of her back where she holsters her pistols and drew them. "Huh?" Looking to her left hand all she saw was her hand griping air. "Son of a-"

"What's the matter?" Ashley poked her head out of the cover of a fallen tree.

"Well…" Mai began with embarrassment lacing her voice. "I…kind of never learned how to fire a single pistol…"

"Um…is that even possible?" Kaidan yelled sarcastically as he popped up from the rock cropping.

"Kaidan! Shut up before I shoot you…" came the annoyance filled voice of Mai as she ran for the nearest cover. "I can't fire a pistol alone…I never learned how…I just jumped in with two…"

With a sigh Mai peaked around the large pine like tree she was hiding behind to get a good look at the approaching enemies. What she saw sent chills down her spine. They were distinctly humanoid and there were three different types of species. The first looked like a reanimated human mummy with lights for eyes, a bluish skin tone and numerous electrical wires and tubes crisscrossing its entire body. The second looked like a pale human with extremely elongated canines but also had the bluish tint and the cybernetic enhancements and also carried a rifle like weapon. The third looked like some sort of synthetic designed around the form of some bipedal organic. Its limbs had the look of muscles and had fluid transporting tubs crisscrossing them. And its head was similar to a serpents neck minus the head in its place there was a cylindrical eye that glowed.

"What the hell! The Geth aren't hostile towards anyone not even the Quarians!" Mai's astonished voice was barely above a whisper.

"What?! Geth!? Here!?"

"Yes Ashley…the synthetic one is a Geth and the other two I have no idea what they are but they are obviously the enemy."

"So what's the plan, _Varðr_?" Kaidan couldn't keep the distain out of his voice as he called her by her rank.

"Fine go get your ass shot of as a distraction for us then Leftenant!" Mai could barely contain her rage.

Ashley and Kaidan both stared at Mai as she vented her rage on the tree in front of her. The end result looked like a wild beast had taken a chunk out of the tree trunk.

"That does it I'm going in you two provide me some cover!" Mai ordered as she tossed her pistol at Ashley to free up her right hand so she could draw both of her ninjatos.

"What!? Varðr are you seriously going to fight them in close quarters!" Ashley asked as she fumbled with the second pistol hat had come into her possession.

"Yes but I will have backup if you are willing…" Spinning her swords Mai jumped onto the nearest rock formation which happened to be the one Kaidan was hiding behind. "And as for you bleyða! I would rather you just stay here and not shoot me in the back!"

"What was that?!" Kaidan couldn't keep his anger out of his voice.

"Just sit tight." With that Mai activated her biotics and launched herself at nearly the speed of light at the enemy knocking over the first few of the husk like mummies. With a hiss a few of the fanged husk like humanoids raised their rifle's and open fired at Mai as she flipped over their heads in an attempt to take them out from behind. With a series of guttural grunts, hisses and clicks the fanged husks surrounded Mai and prepared their own version of biotics in an attempt to hold her down so it will be easier to finish her off. Luckily for Mai Ashley had finally managed to get the pistols under control and release the old fashioned safety mechanisms allowing her to fire them. Using the now ready pistols Ashley ran out from cover firing them both at the group of enemies trying to corner Mai.

"Damn! You learn fast Gunny!" Came an unknown mirth filled voice echoed over the radio.

"What the hell! Who the hell are you and why are you on this radio frequency!?" Kaidan yelled into the radio.

"Jinx? How the hell did you get here?" Mai yelled out as two of the mummy like husks were blown to pits by a high caliber round tearing through their chests. Mai took this opportunity to drive her two swords through the eyes of two of the fanged husks killing them instantly and creating an opening for her to escape through.

"Hahaha. Just blame your father and leave it at that ok?" Jinx shot another mummy husk as he stood up from his sniping perch.

Mai dove through the breach in the enemies' lines she had just made only to face plant into the chest plate of the Geth. "Ouch…" Mai grunted in embarrassment.

Jinx whistled as he sighted down his scope and saw Mai's blunder. "Almost as bad as that one back on-uff"

Mai's hand flared with the silver wisps of electricity and smoke like tendrils unique to her form of biotics as a rock slammed into Jinx's stomach knocking him over. "Finish that statement and I'll make you permanently mute…" Mai glared at him through the polarized faceplate of her helmet.

"What is wrong with you woman?!" Kaidan yelled as he got up from his cover and shredded the last fanged husk with his biotics.

"Huh…so that's what a warp looks like…wait…Leftenant did you- Leftenant! After this mission hand in your rank insignias and report to the brig you got that?!" Mai ordered as she drove one of her blades through the last mummy husk. Turning to the Geth Mai just sat there staring at it waiting for it to make its move but when it did nothing she activated her data mining programs. What she found in its coding made her gasp is shock and horror. "What have they done to you little one…"

"Ma'am? These flashlight heads killed all of my squad so why are you showing it mercy?" Ashley asked as she slowly approached.

"Then kill it already!" Kaidan ran over to them charging up his biotics preparing to smash the synthetic to peaces.

"Jinx…do it…" Mai heaved a sigh as she removed her helmet and gave the order to Jinx. A second later Kaidan was struck in the back with a paralysis round dropping to the ground twitching occasionally.

"To answer your question little miss Gunny… Wolvendon has been in contact with the Geth for years and they have on more than one occasion expressed a desire to know we organics and to come to a peaceful resolution." Jinx informed as he slid down the rise he was using as his sniper perch.

"So they lied!" Kaidan attempted to yell out but he only managed to gutturally grunt it out seeing as his face was planted in the dirt.

"THEY DID NOT LIE! Geth do not lie! They have no need to." Mai quietly said as she continued to remove the exterior plating on her armor so that she could access the electrical systems directly. "Hey Jinx call in a re-equip box for me please…"

"What could you possibly need a re-equip box for- oh…" Jinx stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what she was doing.

"I'm going to burn out all my computer systems trying to save this poor soul from its suffering…" Tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. Mai then pulled out five transmitter receivers from her belt and placed them around the Geth's body at the various data ports. "The box on the way?"

"Yes it is alright you know the drill grab the Leftenant and turn around got it?" Mai then started to remove the rest of her armor standing only in a pair of combat fatigues and a light tunic. Much to Ashley's dismay she even took of the fatigues and stood there in the tunic and a pair of military issue undergarments.

"Is this really necessary?" Ashley asked as she tried to make sure that no one was looking.

"Well…yes and no…for the hacking I'm going to do it's not but after it's done I'll need to change into something else seeing as all the electronics on this armor," Mai taps her knuckle against the spinal plate for emphasis, "will get burned out during the attempt…plus it's refreshing to feel the breeze against my skin…"

With a sigh Ashley took up a position near the bend so that she can keep watch and possibly prevent the enemy from sneaking up on them. "This is so not the time for this…"

* * *

After successfully freeing the Geth and clearing out all the enemies they have come across. The Alliance marines and the Wolvendon soldiers had finally managed to fight their way to the dig site only to find that the artifacts had been moved away from the site. "Son of a-"

The Geth unit came up behind Mai and sent a text document to her. "Yeah Flashy I know that it wasn't your previous masters who moved it…the footprints say colonist scientists where the one to be here last."

"What the hell…" Kaidan groaned as he finally started to regain feeling in his extremities as the paralysis wore off. "I am going to report you for this!"

"Shut up you bleyða you disgrace that uniform you wear!" Mai glared at him.

Ashley shuffled up close to Mai so she could whisper into her ear. "You are going to have to explain that thing I saw you try to hide after taking off your armor…"

"Trust me if you are going to serve with me and if I can get to trust you I will tell you everything. PS you are already well on the way for that just ask Jinx over there." Mai nodded in his general direction as she readjusted the fastenings on the new set of armor she was wearing. "Damn this set is too loose…well at least this duster is armored as well…"

"What is with this archaic design to your gear?" Ashley asked as she looked Mai up and down studying her equipment. Mai was wearing simple combat fatigues with combat boots and a matching set of armor plating over the tunic and fatigues. She also had an old western duster that was a deep crimson almost maroon in color. Mai wore a pair of high-tech goggles that completely hid her eyes and also she wore a metal laced leather hair fastener that covered the top of her head down the sides, thus covering her ears, and around the neck.

"What?" Mai's left eyebrow raised up over her goggles. "This is standard issue colony defense force gear…trust me it's really good."

"So you don't equip your colony defense forces with out of date gear?" Ashley asked as they continued to search the entire dig site and its surrounding compounds.

"The gear might not be environmentally sealed but that doesn't mean that it's out of date…the armor itself is just as strong as the new environment gear…" Mai said as she checked all her weapons once again. "Let's keep moving-"

The sound of a single gunshot rang out over the entire compound causing Mai and the rest to charge over the last hill right into the waiting arms of the enemy.

"Just to make sure…The mummy like ones it's been agreed on that we shall just call them husks because that's all they are right? So then what about the ones that seem to be actually fully intelligent?" Jinx asked as he ran to the nearest high ground to prepare for the coming onslaught.

"How about…Fanged Ones? No too long…hm…then how about Fangs?" Mai asked as she readied her ninjatos and looked to her squad mates. Ashley nodded her approval as she drew both the pistols she had received from Mai. Jinx signaled his approval by sending two clicking sounds through the radio. Kaidan just glared as he prepared for battle by activating his biotics creating a field similar to Mai's. Kaidans biotics, like most everyone else in the galaxy, were blue in color and acted like a small electrical storm around his hand as he charged it. "Ok slaughter them all! Show no mercy to these abominations against all life!"

Mai led the charge as her entire squad laid waste to the husks. Although the Fangs looked like they were weak they took much more time to kill than their weaker comrades. Even when they blew a hole in their chests the Fangs just kept attacking.

"Damn it!" Mai tried to decapitate two Fangs but only managed to knick the spine between its shoulder blades on the one to her left. With a growling roar the Fang to the right smashed its fist into her chest sending her skidding backwards into a nearby build demolishing it to the point that it collapsed on top of her.

"Varðr! You are going to regret that!" Ashley slammed her shoulder into the husk in front of her so that she could get a clear line of sight on the Fangs that had been engaging Mai. When she got them in her sights she unloaded on them blowing everything from the waist up to bits. Stomping the head of the husk she had just knocked over Ashley looked around for any more enemies. All she saw was the last three Fangs exploded into chunky bits.

"Yeah! Chunky Salsa!" Jinx yelled as he got up from his perch. "This couldn't be easier!"

Mai just managed to get out of the rubble only to see a missile streak its way across the sky. "JINX!"

Jinx turned around to see the missile just as it was coming down from its arc. "Son of a bitch…me and my big mou-" The missile impacted the ground at his feet detonating into a massive fireball sending a charred Jinx ragdoll flipping through the air.

"JINX!" Mai screamed as she ran over to where he had landed. "Damn it Jinx…how many times do I have to tell you not to open your big mouth…" Mai started to check his vitals on the off chance he survived.

"Is he alright?" Ashley asked as she came up beside Mai covering her back.

"…JINX! Damn it do not scare me like that!" Mai grabbed his helmet and ripped it off to reveal a coughing Jinx. "Damn Jinx I knew your voice was grating but seriously you need to go see a doctor for that face…"

Jinx's hair was blue with silver streaks and his left eye was gold while his right eye had a solid black iris. He also had a knife scar that ran up the side of his face ending at his temple and dipped below the neckline of his under suit. His facial structure was angular and lean while still retaining the boyish features that is personality hinted at. All of this could barely be seen through the bruising, cuts and blood splattered across his face.

"Ashley I need you to grab the cylinder strapped to his belt and twist off the cap and send an electrical charge through it…also aim it upwards…" Mai ordered as she checked the rest of Jinx's body for any major damage. After finding seven cracked ribs a punctured lung and a broken leg she determined that he will live if the medics got there soon.

"All Alliance military and colonists this is the leader of Wolvendon! You are all ordered to stand down we will take it from here. Stay indoors! Defend yourselves when you get attacked! Get away from the main battlefield. The Golden Phoenix is here and we shall take up the fight!" Every radio frequency on the planet blared the message.

"This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212 I am with Varðr Crimson Lyall we have a soldier down! Codename Jinx has been shot by a missile. He is alive but we need medical assistance now! The flare marks the site." Ashley fired the flair into the sky.

"Roger that Gunnery Chief. I have to ask how is little miss Lyall?" Came the leaders voice as the medical team dropped in from orbit.

"Freaking out…but now that the medics are here she is doing better." Ashley informed as she was helping Mai get back up and coax her towards the direction they were heading before they ran into the enemy.

"I'm all right…let's get going." Mai shook herself and readied her mind for the task at hand. "We need to finish this and get out without anyone else under my command getting hurt…"

"You can't even go more half an hour without getting someone severely injured or killed!" Kaidan intoned as he walked by.

"Hey Kaidan!" Mai yelled to get his attention, once she had it she punched him so hard that his helmet shattered. "You need to fall in line! You can't even fight!"

"What the hell you bitch!" Kaidan yelled as he nursed his bruised jaw.

"Just fallow or stay I don't give a rat's ass what happens to you now…" Mai marched off in the direction they were heading.

"Fuck you! I'm leaving and sending a report if this to Udina!" Kaidan fumed as he marched in the opposite direction that Mai and Ashley were heading.

"Like I care I don't answer to him!" Mai yelled over her shoulder as she marched off.

"Are you sure it's alright to send him off?" Ashley asked as she followed Mai.

"Yep let him- Shit Nihlus!" Mai ran up to the form of a downed turian with a large pool of dark blue blood expanding around him. "Damn it Nihlus not you too…"

"Is it just me or does the hole in that helmet look like it doesn't go that far in?" Ashley asked as she examined his wounds.

"That is because there is an additional plate in my helmet…" Came the flanged voice of Nihlus muffled by the helmet.

"Damn it do not scare me like that!" She sat Nihlus up and rapped a knuckle on his helmet enticing a moan from Nihlus. "Alright go back that way," she points in the direction she left the medics with Jinx. "and tell the medics to check your head."

Mai pat Nihlus on the shoulder as she got up. She signaled Ashley to check behind the crates to her left. With a nod Ashley grabbed her weapons and vaulted over the crates to land on a colonist trying to hide behind the crates. "Get off me I'm human just like you!"

"Why are you hiding behind these crates like a rat?" Ashley asked as she helped the dazed colonist.

"Trying not to be found by those weird things along with those blasted synthetics…" he trailed off when he saw Mai's head snapped around to stare at him. "What?"

"There are still more enslaved Geth!?" Mai glared at the colonist.

"Geth! There are Geth here? Then who was that turian? He seemed to be giving the Geth orders…he was the one that shot him." The cowardly colonist pointed at Nihlus who had just managed to get to his feet shakily. "They seemed to know each other…"

Mai turned to Nihlus with her eyebrow raised. "That is true. I know him but he has betrayed the Council and is running this ill begotten attack."

"Alright head back and get treated and ask for evac on the grounds that you have important intel and need to get to the head intelligence officer a.s.a.p." Mai instructed as she looked towards the sky when a series of sonic booms caught her attention. "Well it seems they are finally entering hell…"

"What was that?" Ashley had a look of confusion on her face as she too looked up to the sky. "Oh…why are they on fire?"

"They are called Phoenix Troopers for a reason…they rise from the ashes and are damn near impossible to kill…" Mai said as she stood up and helped Nihlus get his bearings. Sending him on his way Mai turned once again towards the colonist. "Now do you know where the artifacts were moved to?"

"The things the dug up over the hill? I knew they were trouble when the first announced that they found them…" the colonist grumbled to himself until he caught sight of the glare that Mai was giving him. The colonist was thoroughly scared of this small statured woman who didn't even come to his chin. "Th-That way…they took them to the spaceport…"

"Thank you," smiling sweetly Mai kicked the crate in front of him slamming it into his groin causing him to double over in pain. "Now give me those grenade mods you are hiding back there with you. And before you ask my scanners picked them up."

"Ok ok here take them I just want to forget all of this anyways…" the colonist handed over an experimental heat pressure explosive compound.

"Now get out of here before I decide to put a bullet in you…" Mai ordered as she turned away to face the tramline that leads to the spaceport.

"Would you do it?" Ashley asked after she saw that the colonist had ran away.

"No, not that he needs to know that…" Mai shook her head as she led the way to the tramline. "Now how do I start this damn thing…"

"Um the big red button…" Ashley said as she pointed to the large glowing button in the center of the console.

"Oh…" Mai blushed as she hit the button sending the tram down the line. "Now…what will we run in-…to…Oh shit…"

"'Oh shit' is right…" Ashley dove for cover when she saw the large hunched bipedal creature carrying a massive mini-gun. "So…an idea's on how to take this thing out?"

"Well give me a sec I'm going to modify this grenade," Mai pulled out the grenade she had snagged earlier from when Ashley tripped.

"Um…have you seen that gun? It will punch through the cover you are using…" Ashley yelled over the sound of gunfire as she unloaded into the creature.

"Hence why I asked you to provide me some cover- damn you, you peace of shitty technology! Sorry this grenade is a piece of shit…" Mai grumbled as she tore apart the entire device to get to its core.

"Pfft hahaha really you can't even mod a simple grenade?" Ashley nearly fell over from laughter.

"Gunny the fight? Ahha I got it looks ugly as hell but it should get the job done." Mai jumped up with a triumphant yell and threw the mass of grenade parts and wires. It landed at creature's feet as it turned and fired its mini-gun at Mai hitting her square in the chest when it suddenly burst into a searing concussive wave that left its strangely metal skeleton behind.

"What the hell did you add to that grenade?" Ashley asked as she got back up after being knocked over during the blast.

"Well that's a secret." Mai grinned as she left the tramline and continued into the spaceport only to find a nasty surprise waiting for them. "Oh fu-oof" Mai was launched backwards from yet another impact to her chest plate.

"Varðr! Are you alright?" Ashley ran over to check on her only to find a very pissed of Mai.

"I! Am! Not! A! Punching! Bag!" Mai ran over to the bomb and tore out it's detonation device making it inert. "Get back here you bastards!"

"Varðr! Don't run on ahead!" Ashley yelled as she ran after Mai, while she tried to check all the bombs that littered the entire spaceport. Mai seemed to tear all of them apart as she made her way to the loading docks in a hope of getting to the artifacts before they get taken of planet.

"We need to hurry!" Skidding around the corner Mai slammed into the chest plate of another Geth unit. "Ouch…"

With a series of clicking sounds the Geth turned around and stared at Mai as it lowered its weapon. It then dropped down on its knees presenting its data ports.

"Don't worry little one I'll free your soul…" Mai gently cooed as she plugged her wrist computer into its data ports and initiated the program she perfected in the previous attempt to free the Geth. "This will only take a few minutes."

Ashley finally caught up to Mai only to run past her to gun down the few husks guarding the docks. "You finished yet?"

"Yes lets go get these artifacts…Wait let me make a call first ok?" Mai turned and looked out towards the burning city and opened her radio to all frequencies. "To all Wolvendon warriors the Geth in the field are all enslaved! I am transmitting a program that can free them from the slave programs!"

Mai then tapped a few keys on the screen of her computer and sent the program out to all the Wolvendon computers on or around the planet. "Now let's check on those artifacts…"

"Woah that's a Prothean beacon…" Ashley trailed off as she stared up at the rather large device. It had a wide base and a large cylindrical column that stood almost four meters tall. It also had a greenish field similar to biotics.

"And this is the other artifact?" Mai crouched down to look into what looked like a cage with looked like a miniature liquid metal wolf gnawing at the bars. "Wow this things kind of cute…"

"What do you think this thing contains? Maybe all the accumulated knowledge if the Protheans?" Ashley mused as she slowly approached the beacon once she got within a meter and a half the beacon came to life and started to lift her up into the air. "Lyall!"

Mai immediately turned around when she heard her name yelled out with great urgency. "Ashley!" Mai ran over to Ashley and jumped into the air to grab ahold of her. Using her momentum Mai launched Ashley away from the beacon only to get caught within its field. With a scream Mai was launched back into the cage. The little wolf was released when the cage broke and instead of running away it decided to bite Mai in the shoulder, tearing through her armor, to then flow into the wound and throughout her body enticing another blood curdling scream from Mai.

"I'm sorry Lyall…What do I do? Who do I call?" Ashley freaked out as she held onto an injured Mai.

"Call…the…_Normandy_…" Mai coughed out as she started to spit up blood.

"_Normandy! _This is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams! Varðr Crimson Lyall has been grievously injured during the course of this mission! We need a medevac at the spaceport! We are out of flares!" Ashley yelled into her radio as she frantically searched for anything to mark their location for the medevac. Finally she found an unmodified grenade that she threw at the beacon destroying it and creating a smoke trail that was green in color. "The green smoke is the marker! Get here a.s.a.p.! Lyall is dying!"


End file.
